TIM DREW: Speedwatch helping to tackle driving offences

The Sussex policing area has one of the highest rates of road deaths in the country.

Community Speedwatch Online – which now manages almost 2,500 trained volunteers across several counties – has improved the accuracy of recording speeding drivers and brought consistency and clarity to the process.

It has generated over 20,000 educational letters in Sussex alone over the last year and helped to raise the profile and effectiveness of Community Speedwatch as a way in which local residents can support the police in tackling this important issue.

For its part, Worthing Speedwatch has engaged in 20 sessions over the past two months, recording 126 speeding offences of which 61 took place during November.

The team is looking at establishing a two-way surveillance system at Marine Drive, and the Neighbourhood Policing Team has taken action in respect of as many as 19 incidents as Salvington Hill, where one vehicle was detected as travelling at more than 58mph.

The Surrey & Sussex Roads Policing Unit will be carrying out dedicated patrols to target drink-drivers across the two counties up to January 1, and has promised to deal robustly with offenders.

The Tarring & Gaisford Community Form will meet on Tuesday, December 12, at the West Worthing Baptist Church Centre, South Street at 7pm.

A litter picking exercise will take place at Tarring Park between 10am and 11am on Saturday, December 9, and Neighbourhood Watch will be represented in the town centre on Thursday, December 14, when we will be appearing in support of the Police Cadet Engagement Meeting that evening.